


Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (That Bees and Honey)

by noondaize



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Class Differences, EMPHASIS on that tag, Established Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, First Love, First Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Jeong Yunho is Whipped, Jeong Yunho-centric, M/M, Rich Jeong Yunho, Siblings Song Mingi & Jung Wooyoung, Slow Burn (but not really), Social Issues, Soft Jeong Yunho, Soft Song Mingi, Sugar Baby Song Mingi, Sugar Daddy Jeong Yunho, Texting, rich/poor dynamic yk how it is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-26 18:54:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noondaize/pseuds/noondaize
Summary: “That’s not what I mean,” Seonghwa sighs. He’s perched with poise— a leg crossed over the other as he sits in one of Yunho’s office chairs. The young heir thinks for a moment, that they should switch places. Seonghwa looked far more dazzling along the blank blacks and whites of his office than he ever did. He always felt out of place here; too big, or colorful, or joyous to fit in such a bland room. But Seonghwa is all clean cut lines and even cleaner fashion sense. He looks like a young heir, born not with the spoon ungraciously shoved into his mouth, but with it in his hands as a weapon. A spoon that looked more like a spear when wielded by others, but Yunho could do little more than pant around like an overgrown dog.“But you said to financially support someone,” he says confusedly. “That’s usually called philanthro—”“I mean you should get a sugar baby.”(In the midst of the dizzying whirlwind that is his lavish lifestyle, young heir Jeong Yunho seeks to cure his incessant loneliness the way a bachelor should— by finding himself a real human connection in the form of a sugar baby.)
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there :)
> 
> I started writing this awhile back when atiny twt went crazy for like an hour about Yunho having money and then I was like....remember that time he took Mingi out to eat an entire cow's worth of meat....yeah we're gonna write about it.
> 
> So I did!
> 
> Anyways, this is kind of a quick-to slow-back to quick burn ??? The pacing of their relationship might feel a bit awkward or unrealistic, but honestly what about young heirs and first loves ISN'T awkward and unrealistic. That's what I thought.
> 
> Hoping to introduce more characters + the main plot in the next chapter! For now, have this text fic fluff. There will more than likely be a lot of texting sprinkled out until we shift to in-person meetings more often. 
> 
> The title is taken from the song 'Bees & Honey' by Rina Sawayama! Please go give it a listen :) 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> -n.

Yunho finds himself in a compromising situation.

Or better yet, Yunho finds himself in an unexpected situation for compromising reasons he’d rather not let any other tycoon figure out for themselves. A part of him can’t seem to make a single decision— even one as simple as what to eat in the mornings— without worrying what the press would say about it.

But maybe that was all the more fuel, proving that he needed to lighten up or die a slave to the press coverage over his name. The more he looked at it through papers, the farther obscure and skewed it got. Sometimes he felt disembodied; a face with no name and no position, and the _‘Jeong Yunho’_ of the tabloids and double-page spreads was a whole other person altogether.

He told Seonghwa this, the only other mogul he could trust under any specific circumstances. Where gossip and rumor resided, Seonghwa usually was not. Yunho wonders if it would have been easier being an actor-model like the elder, instead of born into a poor sense of riches like he was. The silver spoon tasted foul most days.

Seonghwa’s suggestion, of all things, was to financially support someone of lesser fortune.

Yunho had been on board the first few moments of this idea— philanthropy was right up his alley, and donations would be plentiful from his bank account. He did plenty of charity-work as it is, and adding more on top of that didn’t bother him. But he hated that nothing he did was secretive. Every time he tried to donate to a charity or do some work that could positively reflect his need to help others, it was on the news the very next day. All these talks of him doing good, diminishing the acts in the end. It all looked like it was for the sake of public reputation, which was the farthest thing from Yunho’s mind after growing up with it shoved down his throat and trying to assimilate itself to his body.

“That’s not what I mean,” Seonghwa sighs. He’s perched with poise— a leg crossed over the other as he sits in one of Yunho’s office chairs. The young heir thinks for a moment, that they should switch places. Seonghwa looked far more dazzling along the blank blacks and whites of his office than he ever did. He always felt out of place here; too big, or colorful, or joyous to fit in such a bland room. But Seonghwa is all clean cut lines and even cleaner fashion sense. He looks like a young heir, born not with the spoon ungraciously shoved into his mouth, but with it in his hands as a weapon. A spoon that looked more like a spear when wielded by others, but Yunho could do little more than pant around like an overgrown dog. 

“But you said to financially support someone,” he says confusedly. “That’s usually called philanthro—”

“I mean you should get a sugar baby.”

Yunho pauses at that, brain whirring up to a hundred percent before shutting off completely. He feels like a computer that’s abruptly short-circuited and still trying to reboot, even as Seonghwa brushes past his stiff figure with calm eyes and continues to speak.

“It’s really quite a nice arrangement. We have more money than we know what to do with, and others are in dire need of it. You can really build an honest connection with someone as you help them, even without making it obvious that you’re helping them under the right circumstances. Hongjoong was very hard to convince in the beginning, but he’s much better at accepting the money now.”

Yunho, in all his struck dumb confusion, at least has the mind to pick up on what Seonghwa’s saying enough to say— 

“Hongjoong is your _sugar baby?_ I thought you two were dating!”

“Well,” Seonghwa pauses at that, head tilted to the side as if he’s contemplating many factors of their relationship. “We’re seeing how it plays out; it’s complicated with him, you know that.”

Yunho _does_ know that. Seonghwa had called him on many late nights with a tentative shaking voice that was begging for reassurance that his movements weren’t too straightforward or callous. He’d never dated someone so selfless with a hardened heart before— especially not someone who viewed people of Seonghwa’s social class like over privileged and overgrown brats. He not once wanted to scare Hongjoong away, and Yunho was the slightest bit more acquainted with real human touch enough to deliver the proper advice for it.

“Of all that we’ve been through,” Seonghwa smiles soft and polite, the kind Yunho has become accustomed to along his sharp features. A deep sense of humanity that thrums through him and proves his cold exterior to be a performance— something he’s exceptionally good at for an actor. Something it took a long time for Yunho to swallow, knowing he was rarely ever off the job of acting. “I find it all to have been worth it. It makes me happy regardless.”

Yunho softens at that, seeing the sweet look on Seonghwa’s face and how much he seems to truly enjoy his new relationship. Yunho can’t feel anything but gratitude to have watched him grow this much, but the original idea still stands between them.

“I’m happy for you, really I am— but I’m not going to get a sugar baby!”

Seonghwa smiles brighter at that, a graceful hand coming to rest along the bottom of his jaw as if he were a sculpture holding his picturesque features in place. “Listen, Yunho, just think about it. It’s not all that bad!”

Yunho groans at that, sitting down atop his sleek glass desk and trying not to lean too much weight on it— he's always had an innate fear that he’d somehow manage to break it, eventually. “How is it not that bad? It’s a financial arrangement that is only attractive to money leeches! Hongjoong is an exception, of course.” 

Seonghwa rolls his eyes with a smile, silently grateful for the exclusion of his partner from the insult. “Alright, worst case scenario, you end up with a little leech who isn’t emotionally invested— the likelihood of that happening is nearly impossible. The service I used is set up to match people with similar interest levels so that you don’t risk overattachment or lack of attachment either. Best case scenario? You meet someone you love, who loves you.”

Yunho pouts at that, mind a little drunk on the proposition of love. Could he really have something like that bloom from such a shallow agreement? 

“Either way, we’re both just in it because of our financial situations.”

“Congratulations Yunho, that’s how a sugar baby-sugar daddy relationship works.” Seonghwa glances down at his watch, brows furrowing a bit before he stands and fixes his already crisp black turtleneck. Yunho will never understand how not a single wrinkle manages to work its way into the elder’s fabric. “But it’s really not as bad as some would make it seem. Look at how Hongjoong and I are holding up. We’re an excellent pair despite the way we started out.”

“Hongjoong is a one-in-a-million case, Hyung. You and I both know it’s a lot more likely for me to find a financially dependent brat than a life partner.” Yunho walks him to the door, slow as they move because Yunho truly doesn’t want to be left alone and Seonghwa hardly wants to leave him. They’d become like brothers in the time they’ve known one another, and Yunho feels like that’s a right that very few people in his world could have— especially considering how distant he feels from his actual relatives.  
  
Seonghwa gives him a small smile, lifting a hand to pat at one of Yunho’s round boyish cheeks. “But it’s not impossible, Yun.” He holds onto the doorknob, toying with it slightly before turning back into Yunho’s direction and simply standing there.

“Love can bloom even when the odds are stacked against you.”

Yunho can do nothing but sigh, brain admittedly worming the idea further down into him without his consent. He wanted Seonghwa’s one-in-a-million case. He wanted his serendipitous meeting. He wanted fate and destiny to intertwine themselves and bring him his life partner. He wanted all of those things, but he’s frightened at the prospect of being so ideal. 

“Do you really want me to pursue this, Hyung? You want me to give away my wealth to someone in hopes they’ll fall in love with me?”

“I want you to make a happy situation out of all that money you’re drowning in,” Seonghwa sighs. At that, he raises a hand to cut off anything Yunho wants to reply. “Better yet, I want you to finally do something with that money that will make you happy.”

“You can’t buy happiness,” Yunho murmurs to him. Seonghwa finally cracks the door open and walks away with his head held high, only turning back at the end of the long hallway when the elevator doors start to open.

“But you can always buy an opportunity to it!”

* * *

  
  


The exchange sticks with Yunho for days, truthfully. It takes him a long while to get here, with his phone in front of his chin as he’s flopped belly-down on his bed. He uses his pillow as a resting place for his bent arms and his pouting face, squirming as he holds the phone out before him and ignores the increasing ache of his ribs. 

He was well and truly contemplating this. 

Seonghwa had forwarded him a link to the app no less than a day later, a small message tacked onto it that said _‘just in case’_. Yunho curses him lightly for knowing exactly how easy it’d been to deliver and plant the idea safely in his head until it was indestructible. Sometimes he thinks of it while he’s showering— while he’s eating, or brushing his teeth, or doing anything alone. The loneliness has begun to bite at him a lot more as a result, tempting him with silent whispers that it’d be better for him to just carry through with it. That it doesn’t have to be so bad if he gives it a try.

The thought continues to gnaw at him now, as he finally finds himself downloading the app and waiting for it to finish its installation. His stomach is churning down to the very pit and he can feel a tremor in his bones, but he’s too stunned by his moment of confidence to do anything more than watch the app’s cursed hot pink icon pop up on his home screen.

He ends up contemplating and regretting for at least half an hour more before he opens the app itself, greeted by a soft pastel-themed entry page that demands his basic information and asks whether or not he’s signing as— as the app so happily denotes it— a _‘gift-giver’_ or a _‘reward-receiver’._ He nearly closes the app out right then sheerly out of the way his eyes shut tight in a humiliating rush of embarrassment and realization— but a voice that sounds excruciatingly similar to Seonghwa reminds him that doing this won’t completely destroy his dignity. It didn’t even guarantee anything changing his life or for any connections to be made. It was simply a trial and it had room for error.

He bests his shame by filling out the details as it’s asked of him— things like height, weight, price range, and other miscellaneous personal information that he doesn’t feel uncomfortable with sharing, knowing very well it already existed on a Wikipedia page somewhere. 

It’s only when he gets to the bottom that he freezes, looking at the words that stare back at him.

_‘What type of relationship are you searching for?’_

Yunho thinks about what Seonghwa had told him— that the system was designed specifically for this. People of similar interest levels would be matched up, and despite the fact that Yunho doesn’t want to chain himself to a lackluster relationship out of kindness, he doesn’t want to end up with someone who sees him like a human ATM. 

So he selects the option to the farthest left with a soft tap of his thumb, watching it illuminate as it stares back at him.

_‘Romantically involved.’_

He continues on with the rest of the app, watching as it functions like a basic dating site with a few extra features that make it more apparent it’s meant for a financially centered connection. He spends only a few minutes swiping through the list of immediate matches, finding no one he’d consider getting to know. He’s not a picky person, nor is he so extremely high in standards that no one would match them— but the idea of meeting someone he hopes to make the center of his world has him shrinking down, too scared to tap away at anyone and make that decision for himself.

As it is, many minutes pass with no one messaging him directly. He takes it as a sign to forget the app for now, closing it out and putting it on his nightstand before he rolls back over and falls into a fitful sleep.

* * *

  
  


As if by some divine punishment from whatever god currently hates him most, Yunho’s work flow picks up in an extremely violent manner after that. He’s too busy answering emails and phone calls and attending meetings that make his back ache to give the app another thought. A week or two pass in a hazy frenzy where he’s just trying to avoid spilling his coffee on himself, and even then in the mornings sometimes he half-forgets what he’s ordering and orders whatever is the drink of the day.

He doesn’t have picky taste buds either, so he drinks it either way. Maybe he’s too far gone or perhaps he’s just not enough of a coffee buff, but it all tastes the same to him. He doesn’t even remember what drink he got on which day, because his mind happily supplies that all coffee is coffee.

He ends up exhausted at the end of every single day, frayed down to the very last nerve and wishing for respite. He gets headaches too easily by the third day and resorts to listening to audiobooks and podcasts instead of TV at nighttime, though that only serves to put him to sleep. He sets up four alarms one right after the other so that something wakes him up, but by the time he’s awake the headache is rampant again from the loud beeping in his ears and his lobes ache with the press of headphones that he rolls on his side to increase in the middle of the night.

In short, he is tired— exceedingly so. He’s so worn down that when Seonghwa calls him, he’s at the end of the week and soaking in his disproportionately large tub, trying not to fall asleep.

“Hello?” He mumbles to the speaker that’s connected at the edges of the tub, causing Seonghwa’s voice to come up booming and vibrational when he speaks.

“Yunho? Are you alright? You sound like you’re half dead.”

“I kind of am,” Yunho moans back. He sinks further down and enjoys the pressure of the tub’s edge on his shoulder blades, digging them in deeper and hoping to alleviate the billions of little knots that feel like they’re inside of his skin. “I’m so tired, Hyung.”

“Have you considered going on a date to alleviate your stress?” Seonghwa asks him suddenly, making Yunho crook open a single eye as if he can see him. He hums in question, listening to Seonghwa sigh for a long while before he talks again.

“The app? You did download it, didn’t you?”

Yunho shoots up at that— immediately regretting his decision when a sharp jolt of electricity makes its way up his entire spine. He brings an arm around his back to brace the base of his spine, rubbing into it softly with his knuckles and trying to soothe the skin that feels inflamed.

“I forgot to check it,” he mumbles. “I had notifications off this entire time.”

“Jesus,” Seonghwa groans. “You’ve really been working this hard for days on end?”

“It’s not an option, Hyung.” Yunho pouts as he leans back down, bringing a soaking hand up to wipe haphazardly along a towel he’d set on the side. With his barely dry hand, he reaches up to the small table he’s set on the side of the tub and tugs his phone back down, scrolling through it to open the app as he keeps Seonghwa on the call. “Working is a thing I’ve been doing since birth.”

“And it’s going to kill you, one of these days,” Seonghwa says with a frown that’s so apparent, Yunho can envision it just by hearing him. “You need to let loose a little before you die young as a bachelor.”

“Yes, yes,” Yunho murmurs. “Says the one with a workaholic for a boyfriend.”

“Hongjoong’s getting better,” Seonghwa murmurs defensively, making Yunho snicker. “Unlike you, you overgrown brat.”

“You forgot rich and handsome,” Yunho says back, just to tease. He’s so eased by the banter that he hardly notices his inbox— a bright, bubblegum pink _'1'_ hanging over it.

When he catches sight of it, he nearly flings his phone into the water.

“Hyung!” He calls out desperately, listening to Seonghwa laugh loudly as he hears the sheer amount of excitement in Yunho’s tone.

“You got a message, didn’t you?” 

“Your all-knowing senses are just creepy if anything,” Yunho pouts. “But yeah, I did! I’ll check it now and call you back later, okay?”

Seonghwa hums at that, bidding him a soft goodbye that then leads to the call disconnecting.

As much as Yunho would love to check his message right at this very moment— he doesn’t feel appropriate doing so while he’s soaking in his tub. He has the decency to put his phone back atop the table and lifts himself from the water, desperate not to slip despite all of the cracks and snaps his body makes in protest. He feels old all of the sudden, a feeling he tries to shake away by applying copious amounts of skincare that make him smooth to the touch. He puts on a pair of baby blue button up pajamas, and settles deep into the sheets of his large and lonely bed, only to groan when he realizes he forgot his phone in the bathroom.

The trek to and from the bathroom is lazy, his nerves settling down considerably just by walking the distance. He’s not in a rush when he settles back in his bed, stomach somehow still kept down instead of being up in his throat the way it had been moments ago. He takes a deep breath in and out, finally calmed and comfortable when he slides below his sheets.

The inbox staring back at him remains with that blaring _'1'_ , begging him to open it up. He expects a lot of things— an attempt at being sexted, someone’s naked photos, cheesy pickup lines— all the things he’s seen and heard from his older friends who have younger financially dependent partners. All of the things his dad’s friends talk about behind their wife's backs. All of those things that make love seem impossible for someone in Yunho’s position.

But when he opens up the inbox, all he’s greeted by is a simple **‘hi! :)'** that takes him by surprise.

He hadn’t expected something so... _normal._

Without thinking, he sends back an equally kind **“Hello!”** that he hopes isn’t too much for a first response. He doesn’t want to come across as cold and chic, in truth. That’s never been true to his personality, as much as the tabloids liked to believe it was. He hoped that by meeting this person’s energy, they’d see how much of a human he was. A bit idealistic for a simple one-worded reply to get that much across, but Yunho was so accustomed to everything he did being met with scrutinizing gazes and studious eyes that he just assumed people were going to pick apart his every move. Everything had to come with a motive in his world, and he wonders if the same can be said for people who grew up with genuine connections and more understanding friends who weren’t trying to rip his entire legacy apart. 

In the time he waits for their response, he decides to do what he should have done first; that being checking their profile and figuring out who they even are.

He’s greeted immediately by basic information that catches his eye right away. Song Mingi, a man his age who was only a handful of months younger and a centimeter or so shorter than him. An equal, in some respect. Equal in that sense that they could have been friends in another life. Perhaps closer than that.

Beyond that basic information is the rest of him— his interests and hobbies, his dislikes and hard-stops, his pictures.

Yunho’s taken aback at his photos. He’s cute in some, and handsome in others. He fits both roles well, showing a myriad of colors and aesthetics that Yunho hadn’t known could be captured perfectly into one person. He’s the type of cute that could be sexy if the cards were played just right— the type of sexy that could become cute at the drop of a hat and convince you of his innocence. 

The type of person who could be every fantasy and hold every feeling in his back pocket like he was collecting little hearts, using them to line the inner seams of his pants. That type of person that Yunho had assumed to be one-in-a-million.

He spends so much time analyzing every last bit of data that he barely sees the shining _‘2’_ at the top corner of his screen, but when he does he’s quick to open it up. He’d nearly cringe at his own eagerness if not for the fact that an angel himself was in his inbox, sending something as cute as a little smiling emoticon next to an innocent hello.

The first message is a straight **‘im mingi’** with no care for proper capitalization or grammatical accuracy. It’s followed up by an equally honest and quick-written **'and i think ur rly rly handsome'** that makes Yunho’s heart flutter and his smile grow wide.

**I’m Yunho.**

He thinks for a long second of what to send beyond that, still unsure if he’s doing any of this right. He’s not sure what _‘doing it right’_ entails, but he’s too embarrassed to ask Seonghwa or to back away from the opportunity presenting itself. He worries that if he doesn’t respond to Mingi with something of interest, he’ll move on to the next equally attractive young heir who can sweet talk him much better.

**And I think you’re really really beautiful.**

_It’ll have to do,_ he thinks as he presses send. He waits for a long few minutes after that and begins to lose hope, before another message comes in.

**i think the way u text is rly professional**

**i kinda feel bad for not being as good now**

**should i meet u w the same energy?**

Yunho laughs at that, watching as Mingi fluctuates a little between unease and shamelessness. Something about the way he doubts himself so openly and points out the obvious makes Yunho smile so wide his cheeks are hurting. Already, Mingi was becoming pleasant to have an exchange with.

**It’s a really bad work habit.**

**I don’t mean to make you feel like you need to type any certain way.**

**Should I loosen up a little?**

**no, don’t**

**it’s not bad like this**

**just remind me 2 spell words out better ok**

**or im gonna look back at our convos and get rly embarrassed**

Yunho snickers against the surface of his phone, feeling like a teenager in the movies where their hearts flutter and their brain is a little struck dumb with disproportionate happiness over the smallest of things. He likes this attention. He likes talking to Mingi like they know one another this quickly.

**So, Mingi…**

**What are you thinking of this arrangement for us?**

He waits a minute, two minutes— three. No reply.

He starts to feel disheartened so easily, as three minutes turn into five and so on. Before he knows it, there’s a thirty minute blank lull in their conversation with no reply, and Yunho’s starting to fear for the worst. He throws his phone against his bed, feeling stupid for bringing it up so soon and ruining what could have been a good relationship.

He feels even more stupid knowing he makes sure to turn on the notifications just before he does so, stalking off into his oversized kitchen to get a small cup’s worth of cereal. He doesn’t care about closing up the cereal box properly, leaving it out and open on the counter as he stomps back to his room and flops down onto the bed with it.

His phone lights up, causing him to shove his small cup onto his night stand and lunge at it.

Sure enough, there’s another notification waiting for him. A few, actually.

**i like it**

**sorry for not replying :( i was doing chores**

**u started texting me while i was doing stuff so,,,**

**i didn’t mean 2 leave u on read !!**

**i hope it didnt scare u or anything**

Yunho laughs at that— loud and boisterous and covering his mouth. All that fear of waiting just for that.

He finds himself giving his insecurity a small knock on the head, chastising himself for how quick he was to assume the worst of it. Mingi seems to feel the same, having replied to him one right after the other in a tiny flurry of messages all at the same time.

**It’s okay!**

**I went to go get some cereal right now so that’s why I didn’t reply**

**Sorry if I scared you too**

**u dropped the period !!**

**were getting somewhere**

**next im gonna make u forget grammar exists**

**LOL is that so?**

**That’s cute**

**I think you’re really cute, Mingi :)**

Yunho smiles down at his phone like a fool, picking his cereal cup back up and munching away at it as he watches the small little heart-shaped bubbles of Mingi’s typing pop up.

**im glad u find me cute**

**this is nice**

**to be honest i was scared of this app for awhile**

**i thought i was gonna meet a lot of hella creepy people on here or smth**

**but ur just...really nice to me :)**

**and i dont feel uncomfortable talking to you which is honestly great**

**sorry if thats a lot at once im just**

**trying to be honest w you already !!**

Yunho’s heart flutters at that unexpectedly, a sense of realization overtaking him. This was getting somewhere. This was not only promising— but it didn’t make him uncomfortable either. He feels at ease, knowing that at the very least they’ve managed to be colloquial with their conversation and that they had managed to ease themselves into a state of comfort with one another.

Which means that he’s ready to fully pursue this and give it a try.

**I feel the same way, so I’m glad**

**This is a little bit scary for the both of us, I promise**

**I’ve never been a...sugar daddy before or anything**

**But I would like to make an arrangement with you**

**If that’s alright with you, of course.**

That little bubble on Mingi’s end pops up again, disappearing and popping up a few more times before he gets a single answer.

**yeah, i want to. all i really ask is that we make some clear rules because i dont want it to be confusing as we go**

Yunho takes a deep breath in, fingers working their way around the keyboard atop his screen. He writes a few separate messages before he backspaces them all, knowing what he wants to say but not knowing how. Eventually he settles on letting his emotions take over, watching as his fingers slide towards the send button multiple times as he goes back to type the next one. As he finishes, he stares at his small string of messages.

**I respect any and all boundaries you’re going to have**

**Just tell me your most important ones first so I know what’s off limits**

**The last thing I want to do is disrespect you**

**This is going to sound so arrogant but I don’t want to offend you**

**Because the way I was raised is probably much different.**

**no no, i dont think its arrogant !!**

**you have a lot of money**

**obviously that means what ur childhood looked like is much different from mine**

**can i tell you my most important limits rn?**

**idk when ill get the time to do it later**

**id rather work out the rest on a date or over the phone or smth when i have time**

All Yunho’s childish brain latches onto is that phrase— a date. _A date._

**Yes that’s more than okay!**

**Whatever works for you :)**

Briefly, Yunho wonders if Mingi is the same as him— typing and backspacing, rewriting and contemplating and— regretting, regretting, _regretting_. Second guessing his every move and feeling unsatisfied after each one he makes, only to delete his entire message and start typing again.

He gets his answer a few moments later in the form of a singular long message.

**to be honest, i don’t want to just have a financial relationship. i wanna be involved in your life. i wanna be your friend and if it’s good enough then i wanna be your partner too. i want to fall in love with you or at least fall in love with who you are as a person :) i’m probably asking for a lot but i checked that box bcs i didn’t come here just looking for someone to exchange bank account info with. i came here bcs i want to make a connection.**

Another quick message pops up a minute later, making Yunho laugh.

**i want your money too tho, obviously :P but i know ur more than just a money bag**

Yunho takes it as a sign— maybe from the god who loves him most, maybe from Seonghwa’s far higher IQ, maybe from fate and destiny intertwining like he had hoped— but he sends back and **‘I’d love to’** all the same. 

He and Mingi end their conversation with an exchange of personal numbers, promising to text whenever the younger is available. Mingi sends him something sweet like **‘good night’** with a lot of emoticons attached onto it, the last few being a string of hearts that Yunho’s brain latches on to without thinking. Perhaps it was that same naivety, or the way his heart was fluttering at the prospect of having a real connection for once, but he sends back a small heart of his own and locks his screen, placing his phone on the night stand along with his empty cup.

He’d take it back to the kitchen later, but for now, he dreams of a pretty boy with little smiley faces behind his declaration of love.

* * *

  
  


“You look radiant,” Seonghwa comments with a grin. “I take it that the mystery message went well?”

“It was actually really nice,” Yunho nods. He and Seonghwa are standing in line at the café that’s an equal ways down from Yunho’s company building and Seonghwa’s favorite couturier— which is Hongjoong, of course. Yunho may or may not have done him a favor in purchasing the extravagant property so that he could gift it to Hongjoong for his birthday and fulfill his dream of opening his own tailoring business.

“Was it now?” Seonghwa looks at him like a skeptic; glasses resting in a beautifully critical manner atop the slope of his picture-perfect nose. He was chiseled around every bend so painstakingly thorough, that not a single thing looked dull upon his features. His eyes rest atop the silver framing as he looks down, peeking over them despite the fact that they’re lens-less. 

Yunho sees exactly why the public is so desperately in love with him. Sees even more, exactly why Hongjoong likes to make clothing specifically for his frame.

“It was,” he replies with a chirp, turning back in line to stare ahead. He pretends to be studying the cafe’s menu as if it makes any difference to him, but Seonghwa’s eyes study his side profile all the same.

“You know,” Seonghwa sighs, “in most cases people would take that as the cue to divulge a bit more detail. I don’t suppose you’re so rich that even a social cue such as that would go over your head?”

Yunho pouts at him, watching as Seonghwa snickers lightly and taps him along a round and puffed cheek. He can feel his ears already blaring red, and he digs the pads of his fingers into his slacks so that he doesn’t follow his instinctual reaction to cover them.

“I’m only teasing,” Seonghwa smiles. “If it’s something you wish to keep private then I understand, but it should go without saying that I want to chaperone you as much as possible. You’re a family tie away from being my younger brother.”

“I know, Hyung,” Yunho smiles back at him. “To be honest, the whole thing is just a little...embarrassing.” 

Before Seonghwa can ask him to elaborate, they get up to the front of the line. The young girl serving them seems shy, stumbling through her recounting of their orders with red cheeks and starry eyes. She’s probably just out of high school, if not still finishing it up.

They move to the side to wait, the shop filling up with too many people to grab a seat at this time of day. When Yunho makes sure no one is listening in, he makes a subtle gesture for Seonghwa to continue.

“I know it might come across as a little unbelievable at first,” Seonghwa murmurs. “But it’s nothing to be ashamed about. Especially not in front of me.”

“I just...don’t know what I’m doing,” Yunho sighs. “I’m not sure if I’m rushing into it or not.”

Seonghwa quirks a brow at that, surveying Yunho up and down before fixing him with a light smirk.

“Did you have that good of a time that you got bold enough to move quickly?” He asks it with a sense of disbelief— as if the idea of Yunho moving fast was something he couldn’t fathom. In his defense, Yunho knows that he’s never been one to be particularly pushy with anyone. Excited, encouraging, and bright— sure, of course. But he’s never been demanding, nor has he ever shoved for anything he wanted. Most children in his world would probably have adapted to getting what they want by asking for more, more often— but Yunho’s always been one to accept that as a means for patience. Everything he’s ever wanted would come his way eventually, so why push so roughly for it? 

“I wouldn’t say I pushed for anything,” Yunho frowns, “but I still wonder if perhaps I took the vibe between us as a motive to do what an outsider would have told us to wait for.”

“Do you want me to be that outsider?” Seonghwa asks with a polite smile, gesturing for Yunho’s phone. “I won’t comment on anything outside of feedback if you want any.”

Yunho smiles, pulling out the slim device with red ears and shaky fingers. He places it in Seonghwa’s hands and watches as he unlocks it and scrolls to the app. Seonghwa’s one of the very few people he trusts to respect his privacy and not share any secrets, so he’s known his passcode and had access to the majority of his private files for a long time. 

While Seonghwa goes through the messages with a careful gaze, their order gets called up. Yunho tells him that he’ll get it instead, leaving him off in a corner to stare at the small illuminated screen while he approaches the same timid girl from earlier.

“Excuse me,” she peeps, looking at Yunho with wide eyes.

“Is everything alright?” He asks her back on reflex— so certain that when people want his attention, it’s because they’re aiming to get something from it. Rarely have they ever demanded him to look their way unless something was to be achieved that way. The thought makes him frown a little, curling his long fingers around the slender cups as he stands still while she rummages around and pulls out a little sticky note.

“Your friend— can you give this to him?” She asks after she’s scrawled something down onto it and folded it up. Yunho grabs it obediently between his pointer and middle finger, promising not to open it until it’s passed off to Seonghwa.

He doesn’t have the heart to tell her he’s taken, almost certain that what she might have wanted to be passed down was her number.

“And have a nice day,” she smiles, turning away quickly before he can even say anything back to her. He walks back to Seonghwa and hands him the coffee, passing away the little note in exchange for his phone as Seonghwa stares him down.

“That bad?” Yunho grimaces, noticing the way Seonghwa’s sharp eyes have become completely jagged. He can’t tell what he’s thinking, his expression cold but still unreadable. 

“It’s not bad,” Seonghwa frowns. “I think it’s rather sweet, but I worry.”

“Is it because I’m—”

“It’s not because of you,” Seonghwa cuts him off with a hand. “He’s very eager. There’s nothing wrong with enthusiasm, but don’t forget he is ultimately searching for a financial provider in a relationship. Eager ones usually have more layers to their immediate needs.”

“So you’re saying...he’s probably desperate for money?”

Seonghwa frowns harder, shaking his head as he takes a sip from his cup of coffee and grimaces. He’s been trying more bitter alternatives lately as per Hongjoong’s request, but it doesn’t seem to be to his taste. Yunho wonders why he still pursues the useless goal regardless.

“I’m saying he’s probably a little more complicated than that. You might accidentally get yourself into a lot more than you’re aware of, so be sure to build it up with care and learn more about him before you decide to jump into anything. He’s a first-timer from the way he speaks, so it makes it all the more interesting of a decision for him to turn to this with such eagerness and sincerity. Be gentle, but don’t get taken advantage of without knowing it, alright?”

Yunho nods to that, surprised at Seonghwa’s thorough deduction just from reading their childish exchange of messages.

Seonghwa opens the little note before he has time to respond to him, smiling down at it before he calls over the counter and the girl turns with red cheeks.

“I got them at the tailor shop down the street, he also makes accessories,” Seonghwa smiles at her while pointing to his glasses. “They’re not prescription though.”

“Th-That’s fine,” the girl calls back. “She doesn’t need prescription anyways. Thank you!”

Seonghwa gives her a small wave before walking out with Yunho in tow, who watches him with interested eyes.

“It wasn’t her number?”

“Not at all,” Seonghwa laughs. “She wanted to know where I purchased my glasses; said she wanted to buy her girlfriend a pair. Be careful before you assume something, Yunho.”

At that, Yunho frowns.

* * *

  
  


As they’d promised, a message comes in from Mingi only a few hours later. It’s closer to 6 PM, which Yunho is grateful for, considering it’s when the majority of his subordinates filter out and give him respite for the day. He tells his secretary to leave her post and feel free to go home, which is an opportunity she doesn’t pass up at all. By the half hour mark, the entire top floor is silent and Yunho’s left alone in his too-large office to stare down at the small exchange of messages he and Mingi have accomplished between him giving kind orders. 

They’ve talked a little about their day— like Mingi’s part-time job Yunho is now privy to. He works at a convenience store on register, though he is also in charge of stocking shelves and overall just watching over the place. He doesn’t have a lot of co-workers, and their shifts are typically one at a time. He makes a point of telling Yunho that it’s boring and lonely, which makes the man smile at his soft-hearted petulance. The one good thing about being a boss somewhere is that he’s always had people to watch over and converse with, even if they only do it out of obligation to their positions. He prefers company regardless, and will accept it in any way it comes.

He asks Mingi if— for only a minute— he’d consider allowing Yunho the luxury of picking him up from his job when they get a little closer, which is something the younger finds to be tempting. He almost asks Yunho to send for him right now, though he immediately sends a little added message to let Yunho know he’s only joking. 

**Are you going to be alright going home this late?**

_Is that pushy?_ Yunho wonders to himself. Mingi’s been doing this far longer than he’s known him, and he’s aware of that— but a part of him still worries. 

**i’ll be fine :P**

**im locking up again today it seems…**

**Do you normally lock up?**

**yes and no**

**sometimes i do but not always**

**ive only started picking up the late night shifts lately**

**lucky 4 me, our convenience store closes a lot earlier than others !!**

**Yeah, I’m very acquainted to them being 24 hrs**

**ohhh**

**WAIT**

**you visit convenience stores too???**

**ur not like,,, too rich for that???**

Yunho finds himself snorting in the silence, though he still covers his mouth and feels his ears redden. 

**I’m rich**

**Not an alien LOL**

**omg could have fooled me**

**that’s why ur perfect**

**bcs ur not even human >:(**

**What does that make you?**

**An angel?**

**no**

**a princess**

**Princess?**

**Do you like that as a nickname?**

**i do, actually**

**my friends used to use it as a joke bcs they consider me high maintenance**

**but to be honest**

**i think it’s cute**

**princesses are usually rly sweet and very loved**

**that’s not a bad comparison**

**But then, why not prince?**

**Isn’t princess...a little mocking?**

**it’s not like that :(**

**you’re not someone who thinks like…**

**pink is for girls and blue is for boys, are you?**

**Not at all!**

**I just don’t want you to get insulted is all**

**Sorry if that comes across as rude**

**I’m not used to people meaning well in that sense**

**If anyone called me a princess it’d probably be to denounce me**

**But that’s just me projecting, the more I look at it**

**it’s ok :)**

**some ppl think its weird but i dont**

**i like it and no one can stop me from liking it**

**i just got worried you were**

**you know, someone who would make fun of me for it**

**and also princess is sweeter than prince**

**i dont rly think anything needs to be gender specific**

**its the vibe of it that u should like**

**fuck it!! if u like it then like it!!**

**I really like your confidence**

**I could use some of that**

**And I think it’s sweet that you like the nickname :)**

**It fits you well!**

**Princess Mingi**

**save my contact as that lol**

**also, do you not have any nicknames?**

**smth a good friend calls you?**

Yunho frowns down at his phone, contemplating for a long while. Seonghwa was one of his only good friends, and at most he’d call him _‘little brother’_ in passing— but they’d never exchanged legitimate nicknames.

Was that something people normally did? Was Yunho odd for not having experienced such a normal gesture of affection between people? Even his parents called him by his full name.

He frowns harder, wondering about all that he’s missed without knowing he’s missed out on it. Even just now, questioning Mingi’s nickname— was that something he would have done if he were raised with a little bit more friendliness surrounding him?

Not everything was an attack on him— but even less of it was meant in kindness or a colloquial tense. 

**No, I guess I don’t.**

**oh,,,**

**ok**

**well, im gonna make u one then**

**A nickname? Just like that?**

**well, yeah**

**its not fair u dont have one**

**but i can fix that so i will :)**

**we’ll see if i can come up w smth soon**

**be on the lookout >_>**

Yunho laughs, putting away his files for the day and packing up his bag. He slings it over his shoulder and turns out the lights, boredom evident in the silence that follows him as he exits out of the building.

Most people seem to assume he’d leave first— being the boss and all, why would he stay later than any of his lower-level workers? But oddly enough, he’s always found himself to be completely alone at the end of the work day. Most people didn’t stay late because it wasn’t a culture he facilitated, and at the first sight of a workaholic employee, he tended to give them time off or a chance to recuperate. He supposes, sometimes, that he’s what his employees would consider to be a “good boss”— but even then, sometimes it seems to him that he’s just irrelevant to them. He’s never done anything to warrant their attention and they’ve never been eager to build a bond with him besides the occasional employee who wants a transfer or a promotion. 

The thought almost sours his mood, before his phone pings again with another notification.

**we should go on a date sometime**

**i think it’d be good for us both**

**and idk abt you, but i dont wanna make you wait and it not be what you wanted**

**idk if that sounds weird but i just**

**want to make sure it works out irl too?**

**oh my god this is coming off so weird isn’t it T-T**

Yunho stops still in his tracks, the cold breeze of the small fan in the elevator making him shiver down to the base of his spine.

He thinks about what Seonghwa had told him— about being careful, about Mingi seeming overeager. He thinks about how he’s never pushed nor pried, instead choosing patience.

He thinks about how he’s never loved before, and how little he probably knows about affection in the grand scheme of things.

**It’s not :)**

**I think that’d be lovely**

**Maybe sometime, yeah!**

**We can discuss this more at a later time, okay?**

**yeah!! that’s perfectly fine!**

**thanks for being gentle with me**

**i didnt mean to come off as hyper or pushy**

**we should go slow right?**

Yunho thinks the question over for a bit before he smiles.

**We’ll go at a pace that works for us**

**We just have to figure out what that pace is**

**But don’t worry, we will**

**thank you :(**

**im gonna get off pretty soon so i better go**

**get home safe yunho**

**< 3**

**You too, Mingi**

He hesitates— before deciding that in the end, as long as they were comfortable, it would be okay.

**< 3**

* * *

  
  


A couple of weeks come and go with a hissing breeze filling the air. As the season begins to kick in in full force and the weather is shifting to accommodate, Yunho’s stuck between flaky showers and rough winds that either leave him drenched, freezing, or an unfortunate mix of both.

“It’s only a matter of time before you get sick,” Seonghwa had tsked at him. To that, Yunho had waved him off with a gentle hand and had told him to get back to his script.

That was another thing. Seonghwa had been casted as the main star of yet another blockbuster that was sure to do well, and it meant he had to spend less days lounging in Yunho’s pristine office and more in the eye of the press. The absence of the elder is felt deeply in his bones, when he wants someone to whip him into shape in a very gentle and caring manner. In a sense, he relied on Seonghwa the way someone would on their mom— but now that he was constantly out and about putting on his sharp exterior, the time for Yunho dwindled considerably.

He gets a little more sluggish without being able to call his friend. Even Hongjoong, who he’d call on the off moments when Seonghwa’s kindness wasn’t what he preferred, wasn’t available for any leisure time. He’d been appointed as a stylist on the set, more than likely for his tailoring prowess that was especially showcased on any work he did with Seonghwa. Just a single post to the actor-model’s social media got the crowd raging; especially the ones where he was pressed just a little too close to Hongjoong. The public went crazy for what they perceived to be an exciting “push and pull” game of deciding whether they were interested in one another or not.

But again, it was all tabloid talk. Gossiper news that didn’t truly concern anyone involved, but more so what the people around them thought of them. He cringes sometimes, seeing his own name up there on the headlines of morning television. 

Without Seonghwa to distract him from anything, Yunho ends up blurring his days together more flawlessly. Everything is a cacophony of moving from this to that— memories that aren’t half clear or even half recollectable. He even forgets sometimes to eat or sleep, both of which are nowhere near as awful as Hongjoong’s tendencies, but are still somewhere on the spectrum. That alone can keep him up, considering how much of a poison Hongjoong’s tendencies have always been.

The one thing he does remember, without fail, is to message Mingi.

It’s not always, and it’s anything but consistent— which is fine, considering Mingi seems to be busy too more often than not. Yunho had questioned once if he was a college student or if he was working, but Mingi’s answer had been somewhere between vague and indecisive. Yunho hadn’t pressed it, but sometimes the thought weighs on his mind. If he’s ever asked Mingi what he was up to, he can’t remember a time where it wasn’t something chore-related. Washing dishes, attempting to cook, laundry...anything that could have been done at home, Mingi was usually doing it. It makes Yunho wonder if perhaps he’s someone who tends to dirty his place, or if he’s a germaphobe with as much enthusiasm for cleaning as Seonghwa has.

Regardless of the thoughts that plague his mind at night, Mingi is still there to respond to him as much as possible. They message back and forth in little flurries that tend to be flirtatious or sweet, and sometimes something in between. They maintain a good and honestly energetic banter, despite talking about the way they’ve been worn down by fatigue.

In place of a date, they’ve even worked up to discussing a more subtle way of meeting— that being by a phone call, which Yunho hopes will turn into a video call. 

He hasn’t told Seonghwa this— hasn’t had the chance to, in all honesty. The night’s finally rolled around that they planned, with them both being free and ready to do so.

Yunho finds himself at home, bones aching but energy still thrumming on the inside of his veins. He’s spent extra time doing the things he normally does, like eating slower and taking a more thorough shower. He even finds the energy to sit atop his bed and brush his hair gently, toweling through it to dry it off and fluff it up as softly as he can. He tries, with whatever strange enthusiasm that has washed over him, to get his skin soft and glowing like the rest of him. 

He feels...cared for. Pampered. It’s a nice sensation that he wants to feel more often, though only now has he gotten the motivation to do so. By the time he’s done, there’s only ten minutes left to the call with Mingi. He fills the time with playing some of his favorite music out loud, singing to it lightly and swaying side to side. It’s been a long time since he’s sung, too. He wonders belatedly why he no longer does it. Just because it’s impossible for it to be his profession now doesn’t mean he’s lost any love for it.

He gets lost in his thought and the soft sound of his voice when his phone rings, quickly dashing to pause the music and in the process flopping stomach-first onto the sheets. He frowns a little when he brings the phone up, careful to check his appearance despite it only being a voice-requested one for now.

When he answers, he’s not sure what he expects to hear, but it’s certainly not— 

“Hey,” a deep voice calls into his ear. He’s struck a little dumb, scrambling to say something back before he settles in his nerves and takes a soft breath.

“Hi,” he says back. It’s not his voice at full volume, but it’s a lot better than the whisper he was anticipating with how breathless his chest feels. 

“Wow,” Mingi laughs— and his _laughter_. _God,_ Yunho wants to record the sound somewhere on the inner parts of his brain just by his ear, available to play over and over again. “Your voice is really really nice.”

“Says you,” Yunho snorts. “Your voice is so deep! I was not expecting that, with how you type and all.”

Mingi makes a choked noise to that, and Yunho envisions his cheeks flushing a ruby red. “Ah, I know some people think it’s a bit weird for someone like me to act so cutely…”

“No!” Yunho frowns. “No, it’s not weird at all. I think it's endearing that you are the way you are.”

“You’re just as sweet over the phone as you are through text, huh?”

Yunho’s ears heat up, and he’s suddenly grateful that Mingi can’t see him at all.

“I guess,” he shrugs to himself. “Um, so how have you been?”

Mingi recounts his day in detail— slowly becoming more and more talkative as he goes. His voice pitches up and down and begins to sound more excited, cutely changing along with his mood when he recounts a specific part. He wears his emotion right there in his voice, filling Yunho’s mind with all of the images of how his lips are moving and mouthing the words.

His brain gets stuck there, on the thought of Mingi’s plump lips pouting out words in a cute manner with his sharp eyes suddenly round and sparkling.

“What about you?” He asks after a while, having listened to Yunho’s attentive hums and indicators that he was listening. He _was_ — couldn’t avoid listening even if he wanted to, with how magnetic Mingi sounds— but the question still catches him by surprise somehow.

“Just...boring work stuff,” Yunho frowns. “I don’t really do much besides oversee specific projects and attend meetings. To be honest, a lot of the decision-making goes to my father as opposed to me. I’m sort of just...a representative for him I guess.”

“So you aren’t actually anyone’s boss?” Mingi asks— and then there’s rustling, like the sound of sheets being tugged. Yunho pictures him flopping down softly with his head of brown hair, eyes soft and posture relaxed against his plush pillows. Mingi seems the type of person to have little stuffed animals too.

The idea of someone so handsome and adorable all at once drives him mad.

“I’m...sort of a boss in training,” Yunho hums. “Like, I do a lot of supervising and make sure things are in order— but in terms of the big decisions or the imperative meetings, my dad handles it. I just work with our employees more closely. Someone needs to be in the office so that people have a boss on-hand to consult, and I’m that person.”

“Sounds like fun,” Mingi rumbles out, voice closer to a whisper that lulls with the soft hints of a lisp. There’s something mumbly in his pronunciation that makes Yunho smile to himself, positively endeared by all of the gentle habits Mingi has that soften him at the edges.

“It’s decent,” Yunho mutters back in a tone that matches Mingi’s, feeling his body seep into the sheets with a deep sense of comfort. “And obviously, I have access to the family fortune and all that. I guess I can’t complain when my bank account is larger than most people out there.”

_“Oh,”_ Mingi taunts, laughing as Yunho tsks into the phone. “A _chaebol_ , right? You must be the drama lead of many girls’ dreams.”

“It’s a shame,” Yunho laughs softly. “I’ve never had interest in people who have that fantasy. It’s...somewhat embarrassing, hearing them talk about me that way. I’m just a normal person with a lot of money and a small social circle. Take away the excessive press-coverage and I probably look like any other hermit out there.”

“But handsome,” Mingi quickly adds. It sounds so quiet that Yunho’s not even sure if he’s supposed to hear it, but the silence that follows gives him enough room to smile.

“If you think so, then yeah.”

There’s a soft huff, and more rustling of Mingi moving around. He lets out a soft grunt as his breathing lightens up a bit, probably lying on his back as opposed to his stomach with how relieved the breath sounds.

“You’re really modest for an heir,” Mingi comments. There’s nothing mocking about it, but Yunho can hear the skepticism from a mile away. “Surely you know you’re in high demand, right?”

“Yes and no? My name can be switched out with any other person. No one actively cares about me— they care about having a name to fill in the boxes. Demand in this society is less of what you can do, and more about what they can theorize you do. I don’t go out that much, so of course my name’s gonna be up there from time to time with uneducated guesses about what I do for a living outside of work.”

“And what _do_ you do outside of work?”

Coming from anyone else— any employee or news anchor, the occasional fellow heir with a sleazy eye or the interviewer that’s scammed their way into the party— Yunho would know it’s bait. He’d know, deep down, that the answer was meant to spark a conversation. Press coverage, views and clicks, a topic to spend five minutes raving about with fellow co-hosts. That’s all it’s ever been.

But when Mingi asks it, it sounds like a light joke. Like teasing— as if Mingi knows exactly what the answer is and just wants to hear it for himself.

“Well,” Yunho whispers. “For one, I talk to pretty boys over the phone.”

“Do you now?” Mingi taunts him, smirk evident in his tone. 

“Well— just one. But he’s the only pretty boy I want to talk to.”

“And does this pretty boy know you want to exclusively talk to him?”

Yunho halts at that. They had yet to make any arrangements— yet to really set the boundaries for this relationship, or exchange bank account information. Was there a right way to play this? 

_Fuck right or wrong, if it works then it works._

“I wonder if I could take this pretty boy out on a date,” Yunho says with false confidence. His ears are warm and his leg is thrumming with an impatient tremor, but he steels himself for the sake of a good impression. “So I could tell him in person.”

A lull of silence. Yunho’s body is shaking against the covers more and more by the minute, throat trying its hardest not to constrict in an audible gulp.

“Do you mean that?” Mingi’s voice quivers through the receiver.

“Of course I mean that. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it,” Yunho pouts, listening to further rustling and the sound of Mingi rising. He’s probably sitting up now, hair falling in small curls and lips plump and pretty in a confused pout.

“I want to,” Mingi whispers so quietly, sounding small and defeated, that Yunho wants to hold him tight. “I want to...go on a date with you.”

“Are you sure? I’m not going to pressure you to—”

“No, no I want to!” Mingi rushes out, voice sweetly curled in a small mumble that sounds all the more prominent with the haste. “I want to, but we have to figure out when.”

“When will you be free?”

“I don’t...know…” Mingi huffs something frustrated, cursing beneath his breath. 

And then Yunho hears it.

There’s a shuffling, the sound of a door creaking open and a small voice whispering something into the silence. It’s so small he nearly misses it, has to strain his ear to hear what sounds like a very high pitched voice saying something to Mingi. 

“I have to go,” Mingi says quickly, whispering something back to the other voice and sounding as though he’s rising from his bed. “I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah,” Yunho responds absentmindedly. His brain is playing that high pitched voice back endlessly, curiosity getting the better of him.

_Was it a woman? A friend?_

_A lover?_

“Talk to you later,” he says anyway, stomach churning with insecurity. The line goes dead and he’s left in the silence of his bedroom, worrying endlessly in the dark as to what he’s missing.

Maybe Seonghwa was right. Good chemistry or not, there was a lot about Mingi he still had yet to learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's become friends on [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/sanniedaize) I'm a big social bee so I'd love to hear from you ^^ I also have CC in the pinned and other cool stuff if you wanna come say hi!
> 
> Comments and kudos aren't necessitated, but they're important to my work flow and help out a lot :) They also seriously put a smile on my face. If you'd like to, leave some for me to know you liked it!
> 
> -n.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO I speed wrote this in like a few hours!! For Yunho day!
> 
> Happy birthday to my best boy and my favorite puppy. This one is for him, hence why the chapter focuses less on Yunho and Mingi's relationship and more on Yunho as a person.
> 
> I hope this helps further some of the big points in the plot for later. I prepared this chapter with a lot of foreshadowing and slow burning plot development in mind. Ironically enough, I think the relationship between YunGi will be the fastest developing thing in this entire story.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> -n.

With his workflow not letting up, Yunho’s only options are to spend his free time clearing up the (one-sided) misunderstanding with Mingi, or pretend the issue is nonexistent and move on with his life.

Because he has the natural instincts of a sulky dog, he does neither.

In fact, he does the complete opposite— he doesn’t even let Mingi know there is a one-sided misunderstanding, and spends more time worrying about it than he probably does his own occupational concerns. Entire days go by cooped up in his office, allowing the small knick of a wound that is his curiosity to fester. Before he knows it, his heart is bleeding dry with every step forward and back across the lonely expanse of his home’s floor plan. He just can’t stop thinking about it.

_He’ll leave you,_ his brain provides unhelpfully. When he’s brushing his teeth or eating breakfast, trying to sleep or watching TV— every time, always whispering in the back of his mind that he’s being used and will be tossed aside.

_When has anyone ever wanted you?_

The straw holding his life together snaps on a Wednesday night two weeks later, when Mingi is texting him about something funny a coworker said to him while they were trading off shifts. It’s genuinely an interesting story, but Yunho’s brain keeps getting caught in the endless cycle of questioning what Mingi does in his off time. Who he socializes with on the daily. 

Who gets to see him smiling, laughing, playing around every day.

Yunho’s resolve shatters.

**Can we talk for a bit?**

**Over the phone.**

**My hands are a bit full so it’d be easier for me**

Silence, as if Mingi was contemplating something on the other end. 

_Am I reading too much into this?_ Yunho questions himself, looking at the bubbles from Mingi’s side of the screen pop up and disappear repeatedly. After the fourth time, they drop for good.

Yunho waits, and waits, and waits.

**sorry. not right now :(**

His heart drops.

**That’s alright.**

**I have something to do right now anyways so…**

**Talk to you later?**

**why am i getting the feeling ur not happy :(**

**hey. does it upset you that much? :(**

**yunho, answer me :((((**

**i rly want to. i promise i do!! i just cant rn**

**yun???**

Yunho’s heart constricts. He knows it’s not fair— knows that Mingi has done nothing wrong to deserve it. So what if Mingi had someone? So what if he was using Yunho, or planned to toss him aside?

_Right, why is it such a big deal anyway?_

**Sorry, my hands really were busy!**

**It’s okay :)**

He sighs, cursing himself down to the very last bone before setting his phone aside. The armrest of the couch has been digging into his neck for hours, but he doesn’t have nearly enough energy to move. He stays rooted to his spot, burning holes into the surface of his phone before sighing and picking the device up again.

There was no use in being mad forever. In the end, he’s not even in the proper position to justify being mad yet.

**ive got it**

**Got what?**

**a nickname**

**for you !!**

**Already? Why?**

**What have I done to even warrant one?**

**im not dumb**

**text may be more vague but u must think im silly if u think id believe youre this happy this fast**

**i care about how you’re feeling too yk**

**And this made you think of a nickname because…?**

**i was doing research rn**

**on puppies**

_Research on puppies,_ Yunho replays it in his head over and over.

God, was getting upset with Mingi ever going to be possible?

**golden retrievers cant be left alone for too long before they get sulky**

**it makes me think of u**

**ur a lot like a golden retriever altogether**

**so. golden retriever it is! :)**

**Golden Retriever.**

**That’s my nickname now?**

**yea**

**do you not like it? :(**

**I like it.**

**I just…**

**I’m being dumb is all**

**Stingy and childish.**

**You know, typical rich kid stuff**

**u...dont seem like a typical rich kid tho**

**which means smth is wrong**

**and its probably got smth to do w me**

**im right, arent i?**

**Don’t any of you ever get tired of reading my mind??**

**It’s starting to scare me you know**

**yunho**

**what’s wrong? :(**

**Mingi…**

**I’m gonna ask you something kind of serious**

**Look, you’re not obligated to answer if it makes you feel weird or anything**

**And if I’m overstepping my boundaries, then will you promise to tell me?**

**of course!!**

**boundaries are so so important to me**

**id let you know right away**

**I just…**

**When we were on the phone**

**I heard a light voice before you hung up**

**And I’ve been thinking since then that you might**

**I don’t know— have something else in your life that I don’t know about at all?**

**u think im keeping like a secret lover or smth??**

**...Kind of?**

**i kinda wanna laugh bcs**

**well**

**im me**

**i dont think i could do that in a million years unless i did it on accident somehow**

**which...wouldnt be unlikely to happen lol**

**but being serious**

**i promise u im not hiding anything like that**

**that voice you heard? its my little brother**

**he has a very high pitched voice**

**Oh, you still live with your family?**

**no, just my brother**

**So...what about your parents?**

**its...kind of...uhhhh**

**do u have time to meet up in the near future?**

**maybe its time to go on that date**

**This isn’t you changing the subject because you’re too kind to tell me your boundaries are being crossed, is it?**

**nope!**

**this is me telling u**

**im gonna let u know everything**

**so u know exactly what ur getting into**

**bcs ur silly worrying aside**

**i do like you**

**and i want you to trust me**

**is that ok? :(**

**Yeah, actually**

**I’m really sorry for being pushy**

**If you weren’t ready to tell me those things yet then I should give you time to prepare yourself**

**Not manipulate you into explaining yourself to me**

**My insecurities are my own**

**I need to stop projecting so much**

**the fact that u acknowledge it and want to make it right speaks volumes abt you, trust me**

**idk a lot of people who are willing to do that**

**im a bit nervous now bcs ive promised to tell u things that might make you walk away**

**but now i realize i had to do it eventually**

**i cant keep running away from it**

**Whatever it is**

**I wouldn’t walk away from you**

**That’s not fair to you, if I chose to leave you behind because of something external**

**You’ve been sweet to me and no matter what, that’s how I’m going to judge you**

**The person you are is a lot more important than anything else**

**meanie**

**im literally in front of my little bro rn and now hes looking at me like im an idiot**

**bcs im grinning like one at my phone!!**

**and my cheeks are red apparently !!**

**take responsibility you literal overgrown puppy**

**< 3**

**youre the WORST :(((**

There’s nothing for a few more minutes, leaving Yunho to grin dopily at his reflection when the screen goes dark.

It lights up only once, five minutes later, to reveal a heart sent back in return.

* * *

  
  


Fortunately enough, things seem to lighten up after his resolution with Mingi. As if it was some tangible manifestation of his stress, Yunho’s life begins to ease and bend to his will once it’s over. The workload has passed its heaviest point and gone off to his father for finalization on the bigger projects, and Seonghwa’s called in a few times to let Yunho know that the majority of his days on set have passed by in a flurry. The movie itself was approaching the wrap up of the principal photography, and the elder’s time would be freed up within a matter of days as it entered post-production. 

The newfound time Yunho’s gotten has left him with one unfortunate issue.

“Yunho,” his father grumbles. There’s a string of curses beneath his breath as he bangs away roughly on his landline, holding up the handset and letting it ring aloud. Yunho rarely gets the chance to meet his father at their company building where Yunho’s permanent office is located— even less has the opportunity to stand in his father’s headquarters like this, feeling small, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Yes, father?”

“Drop the tone,” his father sighs. He’s got the phone pressed to his ears, listening in on someone else’s voice relaying what sounds like an automated message before he presses at the dial pad more. Yunho has no idea why he’s been called, considering his father rarely does business with anyone directly— especially avoidant of his son, if Yunho was being completely honest— and yet when he makes to leave his father alone so he can have privacy during his phone call, a stern hand directs him to stay rooted to his spot.

There’s a sad sense of nostalgia gnawing at the back of his thoughts, reminding him of times where he had on red and blue pajamas and was being forced to hold his arms up in the air for hours on end in punishment. That’s more than enough candy, Yunho, his father used to say with the same hand pointed at him. No playtime, you have to help father work. Enough of those ridiculous toys, they kill your ability to focus.

This and that, endlessly. Yunho could have anything, he hardly received a direct no— but there were limits to everything. So much so that Yunho felt foolish for even asking. You can have it, he was always told. But in truth, everything in his life has always felt borrowed.

“Yunho,” his father says after a while. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“Not...really..”

“I raised a boy who doesn't pay enough attention,” his father huffs. “Do you look at the news, son?”

_Ah, the news._ They said a lot of different things that were really just the same few stories in newly wrapped boxes. Dying, a baby, divorce, an affair— always something. If you weren’t living your life lavishly like the neighborhood’s resident Gatsby or publicly posting your will, they couldn’t possibly care less about you.

He shakes his head in return, somewhat annoyed to hear from his own father about something as insignificant as the news.

“There’s a rumor doing rounds both online and on television,” the old man murmurs. “That you have agoraphobia.”

“But I don’t.”

His father laughs at that— a single dry holler that ends in an unamused expression.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, boy. What matters is it’s gaining attention— bad attention, do you understand me?”

“I thought all publicity was good publicity,” Yunho laughs, trying to cross his hands behind his back so his father doesn’t notice he’s shaking. It was embarrassing enough that he was getting yelled at as a grown adult, let alone by the person who happened to be both his employer and his father.

“Don’t play stupid with me,” his father growls. “Do what I tell you so they’ll shut up, hm? I’m already clearing it up as much as I can, we just need you to put the nail in the coffin.”

“Why does it matter so much?” Yunho finds himself asking, halfways frightened by his own mouth as he is exasperated by the situation. Was it wrong of him to want a single day off away from these things?

“What,” his father laughs, “you think you’re more important than the press? Than the media coverage? You think your _word_ is gonna do something to dissuade public opinion?”

“I thought work was all about ethics.”

“You’re still foolish after all this time,” his father shakes his head. He rises from his seat, coming around the desk to stand in front of it. Like this, Yunho knows he’s much taller. He’d exceeded his father’s height a long time ago.

And yet still, that gaze makes him shrink into himself.

“Work is about bullshitting enough positive feedback that the public _pays_ you just to breathe,” he whispers. A little closer and he’s in Yunho’s face, leaning upwards and still somehow looking down on his son at the same time. “Everything can be filthy as long as the consensus is squeaky clean, you understand me?”

Yunho’s throat snags on a building frustration, instead giving his father a single nod.

“Now— there is, luckily, a chance for redemption tonight.” The old man turns back around to his desk, picking at some of the papers atop it and procuring a thin sheet with details for a function.

“Hope you've got a tux in that closet of yours, boy. It's _not_ optional.”

* * *

  
  


Many grueling hours, a quick text, and a long drive to the other side of town brings Yunho here, to Hongjoong’s shop.

“You want a satin tux ready within the next _two hours?”_

“I’ll pay literally anything,” Yunho whines. “ _Please_ , Hyung. I need this favor!”

“It’s not about price, brat,” Hongjoong huffs at him. It’s nearing 6 at night and Hongjoong’s an hour away from closing, evident by the way he’s already begun to fold up some of his nicer fabrics into their respective covers, but he keeps the door wide open for Yunho. “I just don’t know if that’s possible.”

“Don’t you have anything lying around? Some pieces you can stitch together or—”

“It’s a _suit,_ ” Hongjoong groans. “Not Frankenstein’s monster. Let’s face it, even if I did, I hardly doubt any of it would be in your size.”

“I need something,” Yunho pouts anyway. “This party is at eight and I…”

“You can’t afford to miss it, can you?” Hongjoong’s frowning up at him, placing his neatly-wrapped fabrics on the counter before him. “I know that look. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s my dad…”

Hongjoong knows about Yunho’s dad. Mainly because he has the same relationship with his own, a fact that timidly came to light when they were both being vulnerable. Seonghwa knows it too, but he’s always been more apprehensive about mentioning it, considering he has a great relationship with his own father. Yunho appreciates it, as much as he doesn’t say it. It’s a subject they know better than to breach unless he brings it up himself.

And Hongjoong must be able to see the cues all across his face— in his quivering lips and the way his fingers begin to tremble. He can see Yunho’s happy facade breaking just the slightest bit, unearthing the fear and shame that lies beneath it at all times.

Hongjoong’s quick to take a few steps near him, pulling him into a hug that is small and yet, somehow overwhelmingly comforting.

“You’re a great son,” Hongjoong murmurs into his clavicle. “You know that, right?”

“He cares about the public’s opinion more than he does about me,” Yunho sighs. His eyes are watery, and he’s frustrated that even after many years he can still be so childish over something like this, but Hongjoong’s hands are warm all the same.

“Tell you what,” the elder hums, “how about we ask Seonghwa if he has something you can borrow? It might be tight fitting, but a little bit of modification can make it work. Then, after your party, we can all get something to eat, hm? Does that sound good?”

“You’re being uncharacteristically soft,” Yunho laughs wetly, but nods his head in enthusiastic agreement. Nothing sounded better than being with people he cares about, feeling doted on and seen.

“You’re a brat even now,” Hongjoong pulls away grinning. “But of course I can be soft, you’re practically my kid.”

“Seonghwa Hyung calls me his little brother. Wouldn’t that make you his—”

“This is why I’m not soft on you more often,” Hongjoong grits out with half fondness and half agitation. “Brats like you know just how to ruin a good moment.”

Yunho can’t stop himself from grinning ear to ear.

* * *

  
  


Seonghwa does have a suit that runs a little big, and with some of Hongjoong’s magic tinkering, it becomes just large enough to fit Yunho like a snug glove. He doesn’t mind the way it hugs his curves, or accentuates the bend of his soft skin when he leans forward just a little too far. It makes him look tall and, in some respect, a little thicker. Hongjoong whistles at the flirtatiously snug fit and Seonghwa smiles back at the younger with genuine mirth.

“You’ll certainly be the talk of the party,” Seonghwa comments lightly. He partakes in a last minute fiddling with Yunho’s tie, pushing his hair a little ways to the side and sweeping the bangs away from his eyes. “I think— no one will be able to keep their eyes off of you. Right, Joong?”

“Mm, you better pay me for this,” the smaller chirps, laughing when Yunho pretends to reach into his back pocket. The three of them share a small circle of reciprocated soft smiles, enjoying the quiet that they revel in before it’s time to bid Yunho goodbye.

“Oh, Yunho—” Seonghwa stops him by the front door of his mansion, placing a delicate hand on the expensive fabric-clad shoulder. “Why don’t you take one of my sports cars? I bet it’d look much more eye-catching.”

_“Hyung,”_ he whines. “I don’t need one. I have a driver at home who’s willing to pick me up.”

“But you hate being driven places,” Hongjoong says as he comes up behind him. Yunho half expects to see his bag somewhere in sight as proof that he’s leaving too, but instead his socked feet pad against the ornate tile with a sense of familiarity and homeliness. 

“I do,” Yunho frowns. “But my dad said it’d look better, so I guess I have no choice.”

At that, his phone pings with a notification. A single automated text message to let him know his limousine driver was ready to head to his location and give him a lift, if he’d share it. Yunho groans. 

“I guess not,” Seonghwa says with empathetic eyes. They share a lasting hug between the three of them, and Yunho leaves them at the door with a timid wave when his phone pings again with the confirmation of his driver being just beyond the gates.

He takes one deep breath in, and steps out into the beginning of a long, draining night.

* * *

  
  


In retrospect, Yunho wishes he’d reveled in the silence of his drive more. As much as it was unbearable to exist within the same space as another person and have nothing to say, since he’s stepped out of the vehicle it seems anyone and everyone has two cents to add to his pockets.

He knows only a select few of the other partygoers, most of which he’s done business with or had the displeasure of being dragged around in the presence of at functions he used to attend when he was a young teen. Everything is a mix of “how’s the company” and “you’ve grown up quite a bit” enough for him to get used to it within minutes, practicing the same smile and flashing the same bland thumbs-up when the chatter becomes too loud to decipher music from mouth. 

It’s odd. He’s one for socializing— loves conversation more than the average person, he knows. As a child, his mother used to affectionately call him ‘chatterbox’— something that was once timeless and golden before he’d hit his years of puberty and realized that her lips curled reluctantly outwards when she’d say it. She looked pained, and that was all Yunho had needed to see to understand not all smiles were born from a compliment.

Yet still, annoyance and amusement aside, this is hardly even conversation. It’s more a set of exchanging one-liners in between poorly concealed requests. Everyone’s too haughty to ask for the deal up front, so it’s half caught between appetizers and poor jokes over the span of a good long hour that wears down the bones. Yunho’s never been good at that talk. It irks him somewhere deep, that he’s become a walking ladder to the top for others.

He sifts through the crowd of groping hands praying to snag a good deal or an arranged date, avoidant of anything that even grazes his beloved suit for more than a second. People try to call his name, but his mind brings him to a darkened corner where it looks like no one else is trying to retreat to.

He ends up half pulled in the darkness between two doorways, both drawn open and hiding him in the pocket. People pass by him, around him and in front— but not a glance is spared at his form. He simply...disappears.

_And when has anyone ever looked for you, anyway?_

He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and opens up his messages.

**Help me, I’m dying**

**SH**

**I think I’d know if my beloved sibling by heart was dying**

**HJ**

**And I’d know if my son was dying**

** SH **

**He’s your son but my brother?**

** HJ **

**We’re not having this conversation**

** SH **

**Oh we will be having this conversation, but not now**

**Anyway**

**What’s the matter?**

**These people are not only money hungry**

**They literally are all like my dad**

**They don’t care about anything but the press**

**It’s insane**

**You know within twelve minutes of being here, five separate wives have asked me to date their daughters?**

**And only ONE of them even gave me her name and told me who she was married to**

**Pretty sure the matriarch of that famous tuna company thinks I’m going to look into selling fish**

** SH **

**Tuna is much better when you prepare the fish yourself**

** HJ **

**Oh, there you go again**

**Two minutes away from talking someone’s ear off about your gourmet chef skills, my love?**

** SH **

**Do I not make quality food for you when you are being too ignorant to feed yourself, my twin flame?**

** HJ **

**Point made**

**If you could kindly keep your strange love bickering to yourself**

**I need HELP**

** SH **

**And you’re asking us?**

**You’re asking Joong of all people?**

** HJ **

**You love me deeper than anyone I’ve ever known and yet you target such intimate sorrows**

** SH **

**We were literally discussing this at the supermarket the other day, my dear**

**But Yunho I will give you the same tips I give him**

**Try to meet others halfway with your sincerity**

**Although most have a goal in mind to discuss beneficial topics, I’m sure there’s at least one person as equally soul-searching as you**

**Fabrication is an easy spell to shatter when you realize it’s simply an obligated front rather than a meticulously crafted one**

**Those who shine beneath the surface must be coerced into exposure**

**....Sorry, run that by me again?**

** HJ **

**You’re not the only one fed up with the bullshit**

**Go out there and find who else wants a genuine conversation**

**Show them some interest and bam**

**You’ve made a new friend**

** SH **

**That’s what I just said**

** HJ **

**You and I need to discuss our speech patterns, my angel**

**Not everyone talks like you and I do to one another**

** SH **

**Is that so?**

**Maybe I need some communication lessons of my own**

** HJ **

**Maybe I’ll give them to you if you just come to the other room ;)**

**Please. I’m begging you to stop.**

** SH **

**Of course. I have some things to do anyway**

** HJ **

***someone**

** SH **

**You have neither shame nor tact**

**We believe in you, Yunho! Go out there and crush it**

** HJ **

**GOOD LUCK!**

**:( I’ll try.**

Pocketing his phone, Yunho takes a deep breath and steps out of the small pocket of space he’d been hiding in. By now, the party has flung itself into a barrage of music and movement, pushing against each and every wall with an all-consuming aura that’s manifested itself into skintight modernized ballgowns and champagne flutes left unattended.

It’s nothing short of stylized chaos, the more that Yunho looks at it. The parties in movies where barely-grown children fling their bodies and tip back their drinks is here, in the flesh, pretending that the expense of it all could cover the skeletal foundation.

They’d never been much better than “commoners.” They lived the same lifestyles, after all.

“Enjoying it?” Someone asks behind his shoulder, nearly making him jump with a start when he turns around so quickly his neck aches.

He comes face to face with a slightly shorter man, whose build is stocky enough to strain against the fabric of his suit. It looks as if it’d bust at the seams around his bicep, but there’s just enough leeway that it can only tighten further when he brings his arms across his chest.

Besides the impressive physique, his eyes are round and his smile is youthful. Yunho nearly startles again when he sees the intense sense of resemblance between the two of them. Same eyes and cheeks that bunch, though his was considerably rounder than the stranger before him.

“It’s...um…”

_Don’t screw it up,_ a voice in his head keeps begging him.

“It’s chaotic,” the stranger finishes for him with a sigh. His arms drop down only to tuck bronze hands into his pockets, shaking his head in disapproval before motioning at the scene beyond them with his chin. “The whole thing is the same four phrases recycled between overpriced pea-sized servings, am I right?”

Yunho pauses at that, finally letting out a light laugh when the words process.

“You hate parties too?” He asks his new companion, following him easily when he beckons him with a shoulder. They end up at a table covered in bland and beautifully plated foods, sorting through them with their eyes.

When nothing catches Yunho’s eye, he looks up at the shorter man and finds him staring back at him with curious eyes.

“Parties have never been my style,” the stranger breaks into a smile. “And I can usually spot another reluctant partygoer when I see one. I saw you earlier, hiding in the space between the restroom doors.”

“Those were restroom doors?” Yunho gawks, watching as the shorter man laughs with genuine amusement. His teeth pull up to reveal pink gums and before it gets carried away, his lips drop down again into a reserved grin.

“Yeah, it’s actually a great hiding spot. Hidden in plain sight, as they say. I was going to stand there and look like a brooding heir but it seems like you had the idea long before me. You were even frowning down at your phone in deep thought.”

“That’s embarrassing,” Yunho hisses. He rests his head in his hands, only looking up when he feels the stranger put a firm palm atop his shoulder.

“Don’t let it get you down,” the shorter man says softly. “Being comfortable in a place like this is impossible. You’d make better conversation with the animals at a zoo.”

Yunho snorts, standing up straight and taking a long glance at the people around them.

It was all the same. Person to person, they had the same few looks and the same few expressions. Even the way they stood, or leaned, or covered their mouth— like carbon copies of each other’s mannerisms.

“We probably look odd in comparison,” the stranger murmurs when he sees Yunho looking around. “You either fall in line or have to stand out of it, watching how awkward it is that they walk with their backs to someone else’s front.” 

“Why not join them?” Yunho asks softly, leaning in closer when he realizes that they’re talking rather loudly for the negative criticisms they’re giving on the party. No one seems to notice though. Even if they did, Yunho realizes they probably don’t care at all.

“Because,” the stranger grins. “I’m a simple man with a simple idea of what communication looks like. Good conversation makes for a good friendship and so on. We’re all taught growing up not to compromise for anything less than gold— so why have a mediocre social circle? You make exceptional deals with exceptional men and women, as well.”

“That’s...really smart, actually.” Yunho hums, nodding in approval and awe at the stranger’s words. They move to another spot when a group of women and their husbands come around to pick at the food, both not in the mood to engage with anyone else.

“Is it not just common sense?” The other laughs. “I’m Jongho, by the way.”

“Yunho, son of Jeong Corp.” 

“Don’t I know it,” Jongho laughs. They end up outside on the steps of the mansion where the party’s being held, enjoying the brisk weather of the night’s breeze and leaning back on their suit jackets. “Your name’s been everywhere for that latest rumor.”

_“God,”_ Yunho groans. He leans his head back, craning on his elbows to catch sight of the stars and staying there. “Please, do not remind me. I’m annoyed and embarrassed enough as is.”

“Oh, they’ll say a lot of things about you,” Jongho hums. “It’s best to tune it all out.”

“I’ve been trying,” Yunho sighs, exasperated. “It’s just that my dad—”

He pauses, mouth zipping shut as he looks at Jongho with wide eyes.

Surprisingly, the other only offers a gentle smile.

“He probably is going crazy trying to dispel it all before it ruins your reputation, right?” Jongho quirks a brow, whistling low beneath his breath when Yunho nods in humiliation. “I’m not surprised. My father used to be like that.”

That catches Yunho’s attention, making him sit up straight. “What made him change?”

“He didn’t,” Jongho says casually. “I left him and his fortune in the dust and started my own empire.”

“You’re _kidding.”_

“Not at all.” The shorter stands, taking a glance down at his wristwatch before tsking. “It seems I’ve got to get going, Yunho. It’s getting late and I have to get home soon. It’s been great talking with you."

“Same here,” Yunho laughs, rising up and sharing a firm handshake with Jongho before waving him goodbye.

“Let’s do business sometime!” Jongho calls behind his shoulder, laughing heartily when Yunho’s nose scrunches up in distaste towards the familiar phrase.

Well, he’d consider his rumor gone by now. After all, he’d just made a wonderful new friend.

* * *

  
  


Much to his delight, the roller coaster he calls a life seems to be on the slow and steady uphill, since his rumors magically disappear off of every paper and news headline the next day. Yunho knows next to nothing about the logistics of newspaper sales or television ratings, but he’s just grateful that the disappearance is so swift and unnoticeable.

He wonders, with a sick sense of hope in the back of his mind, if his father really had done everything just to protect his image. He almost mistakes the selfish act for affection from the old man, though that quickly gets swept into the back of his thoughts where all the wishful thinking resides.

Mingi’s more than thrilled to hear about the party and Yunho’s new friend, bouncing back and forth over the phone with a bubbling joy to his tone as he hears Yunho explain every insignificant detail about how lavish the bland foods were. Yunho noticed rather quickly that when discussing anything remotely extravagant, Mingi becomes a curious child with shining eyes, eager to touch.

He’ll never admit it to the younger, but he’s been making up many fantasies and plans to shower him with all the luxury in the world just to watch his eyes glow firsthand. 

“It doesn’t even taste that good,” Yunho laughs over the phone as he sorts through his laundry. The steady spray of Mingi’s sink fills the space Yunho’s soft pop songs don’t, leaving them in a calm state of digital domesticity with the sounds of their lives bridging the gap.

“It sounds like I’d take a million photos,” Mingi says anyway. His voice is accompanied with all the clinking and clattering of his dishes as he washes them— something Yunho’s begun to understand is such a staple of his routine chores because Mingi does _everything_ for him and his brother. The pieces fall into place little by little as Mingi becomes more comfortable with calling him, now that Wooyoung’s existence is no longer an omitted fact.

“I’d buy you a camera just to take a million and one,” Yunho says just to tease. He hears Mingi’s smile as it creeps into a giggle— one they both share as Yunho’s heart responds to the noise with one of his own. Mingi himself is one all-encompassing Pavlov effect that makes Yunho smile ridiculously large no matter the time or place. It hasn’t served as an inconvenience yet, somehow.

“Ah, speaking of cameras!” Mingi shouts over an increased spray from the sink. “Wooyoung’s been getting really into photography lately. I’ve been wanting to buy him a camera but I know next to nothing about them.”

“My friend Seonghwa takes a lot of photos,” Yunho hums. “And his boyfriend is also pretty well-versed in the visual arts. I can ask them and see what works out the best?”

“That’d be...great,” Mingi says, sounding like he’ll add a _‘but’_ that never comes. Instead, the next few moments are filled with silence, the sink shutting off and leaving Yunho’s music to gently drag against the air in the background.

“Mingi?”

He can practically hear the way the other is chewing on his own lip.

“I just...don’t know if I can afford a particularly nice camera for him, is all.” Mingi sighs. “It’d be a bit embarrassing to ask your friends for good cameras that are cheap. I’ll have to save up a long while just to make sure I can afford whatever it is.”

There’s something heartbreaking in his tone that makes Yunho yearn to hold him; to pat away his pout and kiss the crown of his head. He knows realistically he can’t do any of those things, especially given the fact that he and Mingi are still not an item, but if he could only help— 

_Oh,_ his brain laughs at him. _You’re really unintelligent, aren’t you?_

“Let me get it for you,” Yunho blurts out. “I’m supposed to help cover expenses of things, right? You need money, I have it— let me get this for you.”

_“No,”_ Mingi rushes. “No! You’re supposed to help me cover rent and groceries and— and—” 

“There’s no agreement on what I can or can’t give you money for,” Yunho frowns. “I want to do this. Will you let me do this? Isn’t it easier than asking me to pay your rent for you? It’s probably cheaper too.”

“I just...I don’t know…” Mingi huffs, picking the phone up and turning the speaker mode off. Yunho hears the soft clatter as the younger settles the device against his ear, making a small creak when he sits down on what sounds like a couch cushion. “I feel so bad asking you for this. I guess I wasn’t thinking ahead of time what it...really meant to ask for money from someone, but now that we’re here I feel almost guilty. I thought I’d ask you to lend me money for essential things, not ask you to blow your hard-earned fortune on something like a camera for my little brother.”

“You know,” Yunho smiles. “Essentials are different for everyone. Let’s mark this as an essential for your brother. There, easy fix!”

_“Yunho…”_

_“Mingi,”_ Yunho coos into the phone, gentle with Mingi even with just his voice. “I have more than enough money— so much that I’ll never be able to spend it all or be entirely happy with it. This would really help me too, to help you and your brother. Don’t you think it’d be nice to be able to give him a gift and not worry about what funds it’s pulling from?”

“I guess I’m just not used to it,” Mingi huffs. “As eager as I am to receive the finances, I’m a little embarrassed at having to _talk_ about needing financial help.”

“Mm,” Yunho shakes his head even though Mingi can’t see the movement. “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s why I’m here to begin with. This is our first time doing it, but we have to get comfortable eventually in order to do it normally without feeling odd about it.” 

“Why are you so good to me?” Mingi mutters under his breath, making Yunho smile so wide his cheeks start to ache.

“You deserve it,” Yunho whispers back.

There’s a silence between them that feels full, and Yunho’s beginning to think that with Mingi, he’ll never have to feel empty again.

* * *

  
  


**I’ve got it**

**got what?**

**oh now ik how it feels when someone says that outta nowhere**

**LOL**

**We’ve been talking about a date, right?**

**I think I’ve found an amazing opportunity to knock two goals out at once**

**ur not…**

**gonna try smth on the first date**

**are u?**

**What?**

**Mingi, god no I would never try anything without your consent**

**You DO know that, don’t you?**

**no no i do i just**

**im kinda used to the idea that i would be “paid” in exchange for smth**

**its dumb**

**im sorry :(**

**It’s not dumb, we should talk about these things**

**I realize that yeah, after doing research a lot of these arrangements involve sexual encounters to help sustain the relationship**

**But it’s not gonna be like that with me and you**

**There’s never going to be a point where I’d pressure you into that either**

**i know….**

**i just**

**feel a bit silly**

**idk what to do in this situation to make it make more sense**

**im new to this and ik you are too but**

**ur rich and hot and giving money away rly selflessly**

**and im just**

**me**

**Yeah, you’re you**

**And I like that you’re you**

**And I’m willing to try this with you if you’re willing to try it with me**

**You are, aren’t you?**

**of course**

**im just being silly**

**It’s really not silly, believe me**

**It’s good that you’re expressing these thoughts to me**

**If I know what you’re thinking and what you’re expecting then we can work with it better**

**You might feel embarrassed for telling me you thought we’d have sex this quickly**

**But now, thanks to you telling me, you don’t have to spend any part of our date worrying that I’m going to try and make a move on you**

**Especially something you don’t like or feel you’re not ready for**

**i didnt rly think of it like that til now**

**ig youre right**

**i need to be more open to help the both of us !!**

**idk what id do w/o ur patience**

**anyone else would prolly be mad by now**

**Who knows**

**I think if someone cares then they’ll understand and they’ll listen**

**Which is what I’m trying my best to do for you**

**It’s all I know about relationships thus far**

**well**

**its working**

**youre amazing**

**and icb ur my sugar daddy lol**

**life works in rly weird ways**

**I guess it does**

**Now, before we talked about that**

**What I was actually going to say was that we can go on a date to shop somewhere like a mall**

**And pick out a camera for your brother**

**We could get dinner too before or after if you want to**

**Just get to talk and become comfortable in each other’s presence**

**I want you to open up to me the normal way**

**The way average people do**

**u sound like a hot rich boyfriend**

_I’m hoping one day that I will be,_ Yunho thinks to himself. The thought embarrasses him with how quickly it comes and goes, leaving him red and huffing in his desk chair.

**thank u, again**

**for everything**

**i havent even known u that long and ur already**

**this,,,, perfect**

**:) I’m happy you think so**

**So, how does that date sound?**

**sounds like im free on friday**

**would that be ok?**

**Friday would be perfect**

**I’ll see you then!**

**< 3**

**< 3**

Yunho puts his phone down with a dreamy sigh, allowing his heart to flutter and his stomach to churn in a way that’s warm instead of anxious. So long of _limited, borrowed, unwanted_ — and now he felt at the center of someone’s universe, blissfully accepting the warmth that came from this position.

Now, all he had to do was cancel some plans.

* * *

  
  


Because he _can’t_ seem to keep the internal panic to himself, Friday afternoon is spent in his master bedroom’s connected bathroom, sitting on the floor. His brain is working hard and fast— but the provided thoughts it’s churning out are debilitating and doing next to nothing to help the fog that’s overtaking him.

As excited as he’d been thinking of this day all week, now all he could seem to think about was how he’d fail.

“Get out of there,” Seonghwa’s muffled voice comes from the other side of the door, rapping at it a few times before the knob twists open.

“Oh gosh, and on the floor too?” Seonghwa takes a look at the position Yunho’s managed to curl himself into, settled into one of the thin corners where the tub meets the wall. “You are seriously going to worry yourself into an early grave.”

“You know it’s bad if _he_ says it of all people,” Hongjoong mutters lightly, following behind Seonghwa with a small silver train case. “What happened?”

“I’m just—” Yunho’s throat snags on a syllable, choking him up and making his voice crack. As if on command at just the mere sound, tears begin to bead at the corners of his eyes.

“I’m _scared.”_

“Oh, Yun—” Seonghwa wraps a careful pair of arms around him, giving a quick squeeze before he relaxes the hold. “You’ve done so well thus far, you’re not going to mess up now.”

“We don’t know that,” Yunho says wetly. He keeps his eyes trained to the floor, frowning softly to himself. “I just don’t want a repeat of what happened with mom.”

“What happened between you and your mother is an entirely separate situation,” Hongjoong is quick to dismiss the worry, coming nearer and pushing some of Yunho’s bangs away from his face. “This isn’t that. You and I both know, deep down, that you can’t keep using that as a means of fearing any first meeting.”

Seonghwa gives him a pointed look. “Hongjoong…”

“It’s true,” Hongjoong sighs. “You know it, don’t you?”

Reluctantly, Yunho nods.

“I guess I just feel that any situation could be that one,” Yunho sighs. “And the prospect of fucking up very easily overwhelms my excitement.”

“But you want to be free of that,” Hongjoong says. Not a question, but Yunho’s thoughts aloud.

Another nod, though this one is more resolute.

“There’s only one way to be free of it,” Seonghwa says gently. “Are you ready to brave it?”

“Yeah,” Yunho says brokenly. It takes both Seonghwa and Hongjoong to pull him upwards since his legs are about as good as jelly, but once he’s standing he feels a lot stronger than he did before. “I have to face it head on.”

“Then let’s put aside your negative thoughts,” Hongjoong holds up his small case.

“And how about we focus on some positive ones instead?”

They sit Yunho down on the edge of his bed and put some music on while they rifle through his room, with Seonghwa selecting some clothing pieces for an outfit and Hongjoong finally revealing all of the makeup products he’d been hiding in his train case. Their banter is light and teasing, back and forth between the three of them in half sung lyrics and half bickering comments. Yunho feels the tension ease out of him the longer they work, loosening up into the air of security and calmness they’d settled him into.

This is a luxury that teenage Yunho did not have. When he thought about his mother as a teen, having watched her leave in the middle of his puberty with nothing more than a glance over her shoulder, no one was there to comfort him. No one was there to prove him wrong when he thought no one wanted him. No one corrected him at all, leaving him to grow up only accompanied by that nagging voice that continues to sabotage him when good things start going great.

He’s always waiting, quietly beneath his skin, in anticipation. Waiting for just a single sound that he’ll automatically assume to be a snap, causing the tower he’d been precariously building to topple in on itself.

Maybe that’s why the prospect of going on this date with Mingi is all the more frightening. Because Yunho can’t foresee a future where he wants what they have to end— especially not so abruptly, when it’s starting to truly evolve into something promising. Every small step they’ve been taking has sent Yunho up another stair, closer and closer to a goal that has always been too high out of reach.

He doesn’t want to be abandoned again. In his nightmares, Mingi is already prepared to walk away with nothing more than a glance over his shoulder.

“Hey, earth to Jeong!” Hongjoong waves a hand in front of his face, laughing when Yunho jumps a little against the soft bedding of his mattress. “You need to stop looking so spaced out. I asked if you wanted lipstick or lip gloss.”

Yunho pouts to himself, looking down at the small tubes.

“Lip gloss, I guess.” He shrugs his shoulders, instead focusing his vulnerable thoughts on the sight of Hongjoong’s painted fingernails uncapping the small tube and pulling a wand-like applicator from it. While he paints the sticky substance onto Yunho’s lips, he takes a glance at the outfit Seonghwa’s picked and smiles something sly.

“You’ll look great,” he says in a tone that’s all too happy for Yunho to be comfortable.

He doesn’t get a chance to look at said outfit when Seonghwa drops the fabrics into his arms and sends him back into the bathroom. 

“Hyung, I don’t think this fits right—”

“It does,” Seonghwa calls through the door. “It’s supposed to fit like that, you know.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t wear this because I realized after buying it that it was too small.”

Hongjoong murmurs something that Yunho faintly picks up on, something that sounds like— _“see, I told you he’d never willingly buy a cropped top”_ — before Yunho huffs and drags the fabric down as far as it’ll go. He doesn’t even bother looking at his figure in the mirror, instead yanking the door open and finding Seonghwa and Hongjoong grinning innocently on the other side.

“Beautiful,” Seonghwa comments genuinely. His eyes and smile are soft, as if he were looking at a flower and not Yunho with his entire abdomen exposed.

“Hyung,” Yunho whines in return. “I don’t even have abs.”

“Abs aren’t for everyone,” Hongjoong rolls his eyes, shifting behind Yunho to shove him by the shoulders out of his bedroom. “I don’t have any but I still enjoy crop tops. You should too.”

“It looks ridiculous.” He turns to Seonghwa, who’s trailing after them with a wooden hairbrush in hand that he’s lightly tapping against with the nails of his other hand. “Hyung, tell him it looks ridiculous!”

“Ridiculously handsome,” Seonghwa hums. The both of them look way too smug, sharing a look of triumph for getting him into the article of clothing. Yunho can do nothing but groan in response as they shove him downstairs.

The outfit itself is actually rather nice. A black and red cropped sweater that fits comfily around his frame and black jeans with a wallet chain connected to the pocket at his hip. It’s edgy in an awfully tasteful way, considering when he lowers his arms the sweater is long enough to function like an actual sweater.

For some reason, the fact that the two elder boys know how to balance decency with dirty behavior should really irk Yunho even more than it does.

“Here,” Hongjoong hands Yunho a pair of boots, smiling at him brightly when he takes them without complaint.

“You’re going to wow him,” Seonghwa compliments easily. “I just know by the end of the night you’ll have at least made him flustered once.”

“Just try not to practice any public indecency,” Hongjoong says with a wink.

“I can do that just fine,” Yunho smiles with all the power of the sun. He’s got his second boot half on when he says— “I’m not the two of you.”

He probably should have waited until he had them both on, because running away from Hongjoong when he’s enraged proves to be painful with Yunho’s heel half out of the shoe.

* * *

  
  


“I’m here,” Yunho hums, holding his phone close to his ear while trying to keep his arm down. The crop top was not helping him at all to feel comfortable, because everything felt like it was a single movement away from exposing his midriff. 

_That’s the point,_ a voice that sounds like Hongjoong screams in his head. He rolls his eyes.

“I’m by the fountain,” Mingi says on the other end of the line. “This place is so expensive and fancy looking...Am I even allowed to breathe the air in here? It looks like I’d have to pay for it.”

“I’m pretty sure you have to be conscious to buy anything here, Mingi.” Yunho laughs. His shoes stomp against the cold tile when he rushes down a staircase, intent on hurrying to where Mingi is as fast as he can. There’s no time limit, not really, but everything in him is functioning at its full potential and he’d be damned if he didn’t satisfy the odd itch in the back of his mind to make sure he was entirely on time.

“Really?” Mingi asks with a soft voice, seeming small and vulnerable even through the device. “It’s so pretty here, I could pass out just from looking at the ceilings.”

_You’re adorable,_ Yunho wants to shout. He can't believe Mingi is a real human being who’s chosen to spend the day with him.

_You don’t deserve it,_ that voice comes back. _And he’ll notice, and he’ll leave—_

“There you are!” Mingi says excitedly. Yunho glances in every direction, nearly doing a full turn and falling over before he hears the fountain let out a small cascade of water.

He turns over his shoulder and finds Mingi standing there, looking like God’s finest creation and heaven’s one and only angel.

And it hits Yunho hard, right then, that Mingi’s been standing there looking picture perfect, waiting solely for him.

_You don’t deserve it,_ that voice murmurs lowly.

Yunho steels himself as he walks closer to where Mingi’s smiling at him. Every star, every wish, every jewel— Mingi could best it all, easily.

_You don’t deserve him._

_Maybe I don't, not right now,_ Yunho whispers back to it. _But I’ll do all it takes until I do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Gently pats Yunho's head] "This baby can fit so much overthinking and self doubt in it." 
> 
> Feel free to come scream (or talk normally) at me on [the cursed blue bird app!](https://twitter.com/sanniedaize) I'm very open to making new friends!
> 
> Comments and kudos aren't necessitated, but very much appreciated and never taken for granted! :) They always let me know that you enjoyed it, so please feel free to leave some.
> 
> -n.


End file.
